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In the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas Houston Division Case 21-30725 Document 930 Filed in TXSB on 07/25/21 Page 1 of 36 IN THE UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS HOUSTON DIVISION In re: § § CASE NO. 21-30725 BRAZOS ELECTRIC POWER § COOPERATIVE, INC., § Chapter 11 § Debtor. 1 § DEBTOR’S OBJECTION TO ELECTRIC RELIABILITY COUNCIL OF TEXAS, INC.’S PROOF OF CLAIM Claim No.: Stretto Claim No. 403 Claimant: Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. Date Claim Filed: June 14, 2021 Amount of Claim as Filed: $1,899,152,990.64 Status of Claim as Filed: Priority in amount of $1,877,591,506.10; general unsecured in amount of $21,561,484.54 THIS IS AN OBJECTION TO YOUR CLAIM. THIS OBJECTION ASKS THE COURT TO DISALLOW THE CLAIM YOU FILED IN THIS BANKRUPTCY CASE. YOU SHOULD IMMEDIATELY CONTACT THE OBJECTING PARTY TO RESOLVE THE DISPUTE. IF YOU DO NOT REACH AN AGREEMENT, YOU MUST FILE A RESPONSE TO THIS OBJECTION AND SEND A COPY OF YOUR RESPONSE TO THE OBJECTING PARTY WITHIN 30 DAYS AFTER THE OBJECTION WAS SERVED ON YOU, OR A SHORTER TIME PERIOD AS ORDERED BY THE COURT. IF YOU DO NOT FILE A RESPONSE WITHIN THIS PERIOD, YOUR CLAIM MAY BE DISALLOWED WITHOUT A HEARING. A STATUS AND SCHEDULING CONFERENCE HAS BEEN SET ON THIS MATTER ON AUGUST 10, 2021 AT 1:00 P.M. IN COURTROOM 400, 4TH FLOOR, UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS, 515 RUSK, HOUSTON, TEXAS 77002. 1 The Debtor in this chapter 11 case, along with the last four digits of its federal tax identification number is: Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. (4729). Additional information regarding this case may be obtained on the website of the Debtor’s claims and noticing agent at http://cases.stretto.com/Brazos. The Debtor’s address is 7616 Bagby Avenue, Waco, TX 76712. Case 21-30725 Document 930 Filed in TXSB on 07/25/21 Page 2 of 36 IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT ALL PERSONS WILL APPEAR TELEPHONICALLY AND ALSO MAY APPEAR VIA VIDEO AT THIS HEARING. REPRESENTED PARTIES SHOULD ACT THROUGH THEIR ATTORNEY. Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. (“Brazos Electric” or the “Debtor”) files this Objection to the above-described proof of claim (the “Claim” or the “ERCOT Claim”) of Electric Reliability Council of Texas (“ERCOT”) for the reasons and grounds set forth below. I. PRELIMINARY STATEMENT 1. ERCOT seeks to collect an arbitrary and unconscionable rate from the Debtor by ignoring or otherwise failing to follow the properly enacted and operative protocols in place at the relevant time; ERCOT failed to mitigate its damages as required under the contract and applicable law governing the relationship between the Debtor and ERCOT; ERCOT charged excessively and unconscionably high prices for ancillary services; and ERCOT failed in its duty to the Debtor and other market participants to timely and appropriately notify them of the exigencies and anticipated consequences of the storm and to identify and implement measures necessary to allow the market to continue to function properly. The Debtor therefore requests that this Court disallow, in part, and materially reduce the ERCOT Claim in an amount as determined by this Court. The Debtor additionally requests that the ERCOT Claim be reclassified as a general unsecured claim in its entirety. II. JURISDICTION, VENUE, AND AUTHORITY 2. This Court has jurisdiction over this Objection pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1334. This matter is a core proceeding within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 157(b). 3. Venue of the Debtor’s case in this District is proper pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1408 and 1409. -2- Case 21-30725 Document 930 Filed in TXSB on 07/25/21 Page 3 of 36 4. The bases for the relief requested herein are sections 105(a), 502, and 503 of the Bankruptcy Code, Rule 3007 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure (the “Bankruptcy Rules”), and Rule 3007-1 of the Bankruptcy Local Rules (the “Local Rules”). 5. This Court has constitutional authority to enter final orders with respect to the relief requested herein. The Debtor further confirms its consent to this Court’s entry of final orders or judgments on this Objection if it is later determined that, in the absence of the consent of the parties, this Court does not have constitutional authority to enter final orders or judgments. III. FACTUAL BACKGROUND A. The Bankruptcy Case 6. On March 1, 2021 (the “Petition Date”), the Debtor filed a voluntary petition for relief under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. The Debtor has continued in possession of its property and has continued to operate and manage its business as a debtor in possession pursuant to sections 1107(a) and 1108 of the Bankruptcy Code. 7. On March 15, 2021, the Office of the United States Trustee (the “U.S. Trustee”) appointed an Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (the “Committee”). See Dkt. No. 216. The Committee was reconstituted by the U.S. Trustee on March 24, 2021. See Dkt. No. 285. 8. Additional information about the Debtor’s business and affairs, capital structure, prepetition indebtedness, and the events leading up to the Petition Date can be found in the Declaration of Clifton Karnei in Support of Chapter 11 Petition and First Day Motions (the “First Day Declaration”) [Dkt. No. 3], which is incorporated herein by reference. -3- Case 21-30725 Document 930 Filed in TXSB on 07/25/21 Page 4 of 36 B. Background on the Debtor and ERCOT (1) The Debtor 9. Headquartered in Waco, Texas and founded in 1941, the Debtor is Texas’s largest and oldest generation and transmission electric cooperative. The Debtor is the wholesale power supplier for its 16 member-owner distribution cooperatives (the “Members”). The Debtor’s Members’ service territory extends across 68 counties from the Texas Panhandle to Houston, ultimately delivering electricity to over 700,000 electric meters and approximately 1.5 million Texans. The Debtor owns and operates more than 2,713 miles of transmission line and 427 substations and wholesale metered points of delivery and is Texas’s seventh largest transmission provider. The Debtor owns approximately 2,600 MW of generation available to be dispatched by ERCOT, which amounts to approximately 3% of total ERCOT installed generation capacity. 10. Prior to Winter Storm Uri, the Debtor was a model of financial stability. By aggregating the distribution needs of its electric cooperative members to obtain best-in-class generation and transmission facilities through low-cost financing, the Debtor maintained an “A+” and “A” issuer credit ratings from Fitch and S&P, respectively, prior to the events leading to the Chapter 11 filing.2 During the eight decades prior to the unprecedented and catastrophic energy crisis when a powerful winter storm, which came to be called “Winter Storm Uri,” blanketed the entire state of Texas with snow, ice, and sub-freezing temperatures, the Debtor consistently met the generation, transmission, and distribution substation needs of its members and maintained an impeccable financial record, even as Texas’s population exploded during this period. 2 See S&P Global Ratings, Brazos Electric Power Cooperative Inc., Texas Brazos Sandy Creek Electric Cooperative Inc.; Rural Electric Coop, Jan. 26, 2021; FitchRatings, Fitch Affirms Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. TX IDR at ‘A+’ – Outlook Positive, dated June 18, 2020. -4- Case 21-30725 Document 930 Filed in TXSB on 07/25/21 Page 5 of 36 11. The Debtor’s Chapter 11 filing was precipitated solely by the exorbitant costs ERCOT and other suppliers charged the Debtor for energy and fuel required to generate electricity during the storm and not by any operational or management issues caused by the Debtor. To put this into perspective, for the approximate one-week duration of Winter Storm Uri, ERCOT delivered invoices to Debtor in an amount over $2.1 billion due to unprecedented high prices for electric energy and ancillary services. These invoices equaled almost twice the total annual revenue of the Debtor in recent years.3 (2) ERCOT 12. There are three main electric grids in the United States: (a) the Eastern Interconnection; (b) the Western Interconnection; and (c) the Texas Interconnection. ERCOT is the independent system operator (the “ISO”) solely responsible for managing the Texas Interconnection, which covers 213 of the 254 Texas counties. Unlike the Eastern Interconnection and the Western Interconnection, the Texas Interconnection, managed by ERCOT, is its own standalone interconnection with extremely limited export and import capability to the Eastern and Western Interconnection. Texas is the only one of the contiguous 48 states with its own standalone electricity grid.4 3 The Debtor’s wholesale power, transmission and distribution substation revenues were $1.038 billion and $1.041 billion in 2019, and 2020, respectively. 4 http://www.ercot.com/news/mediakit/maps -5- Case 21-30725 Document 930 Filed in TXSB on 07/25/21 Page 6 of 36 13. Within this electric grid, ERCOT schedules power for more than 26 million customers on a network that connects more than 46,500 miles of transmission lines and more than 710 generation units with more than 86,000 MW of available generation capacity.5 14. ERCOT is a membership-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization governed by its Board of Directors and subject to the oversight of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (the “PUCT”) and the Texas Legislature. It is the ISO of the electric grid within the boundaries of the ERCOT power region, which covers the vast majority of Texas, including 70% of the state’s geography and more than 90% of its residents. As the ISO of the power grid, ERCOT is responsible for “ensur[ing] the reliability and adequacy of the regional electrical network.” TEX.
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